Op-Ed: Western sanctions are not stopping Iran’s nuclear program

In early July 2012, the latest round of economic sanctions imposed on Iran took effect. The sanctions are designed to encourage the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear weapons program, but analysts assess that the sanctions will fail.

According to Foreign Policy news, the sanctions are not working and they will not stop Iran’s nuclear program. The West is only empowering hardliners and pushing the Iranian people to the brink of poverty.

Despite several rounds of such economic pressure, Iran is actually increasing its work, both in terms of output by producing more enriched uranium and result by producing more highly enriched uranium. In fact since the beginning of the year Iran has dramatically accelerated its nuclear weapons development program.

Part of the reason that the sanctions are not producing any positive effect may be found in the fact that Washington has granted waivers from those sanctions to Iran’s top 20 trading partners. They are being allowed to continue purchasing Iranian oil and conduct normal trade relations with Tehran. In addition, Iran’s top weapons providers, China and Russia, are continuing to supply Iran with advanced military equipment and technology.

As a result, Iran's leadership has felt free to defy repeated calls from the United Nations and many Western nations for them to halt their work. And as you know, the nation of Israel is being forced to deal with the threat of a nuclear Iran as a more serious and potentially lethal threat than other nations.

This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com